'I Wanted to Meet the Needs of the People': Exploring Volunteers' Accounts of Their Participation Hannah Rose Blake MA by Rese
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'I wanted to meet the needs of the people’: Exploring volunteers' accounts of their participation Hannah Rose Blake MA by Research University of York Sociology December 2014 Abstract This thesis explores the personal accounts of volunteers within a range of volunteer organisations in Yorkshire. An attempt to understand the influences and behaviour of volunteers has been studied for decades by researchers from the fields of psychology, economics and sociology. The purpose for undertaking this research was based on the knowledge that whilst there is a significant amount of literature focusing on volunteers and volunteering, there appeared to be a gap of empirical qualitative research focussing on the personal accounts of volunteers. This research consisted of semi-structured interviews with fourteen formal volunteers. The sample for the study was chosen based on a purposive sampling technique, allowing for specific characteristics of individuals to be chosen. The findings from the interviews highlighted that religion is constructed play an important factor in why people volunteer. Religion played an important role in the lives of many of the participants in the research and they all linked their religion to their voluntary work. Whilst religion emerged from the findings as being an important influence to volunteers so did age and family and it was these factors that also distinguished between the choices of volunteer organisations. 2 Contents Page Abstract 2 List of Tables 4 Acknowledgments 5 Declaration 6 Chapter One - Introduction 7 Chapter Two - Literature Review 10 Chapter Three – Methodology 34 Chapter Four - Analysis 51 Chapter Five – Conclusions, Limitations and Recommendations 71 Appendix A – Organisations in Study 77 Appendix B – Information Letter 79 Appendix C – Consent Form 80 Appendix D – Interview Guide 82 Reference List 83 3 List of Tables Table 1 – Volunteer Information 38 4 Acknowledgements The successful completion of this thesis is a result of the help from a range of individuals. Firstly, I would like to thank all the volunteers who were willing to take time out of their lives to participate in this research, without them this piece of research would not have been possible. I would also like to thank my thesis supervisor Dr Nathan Manning. I am sincerely grateful for the overwhelming support and encouragement which has been provided by my family and friends throughout this whole process, they have kept me going through the difficult stages. 5 Declaration I declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is my own and it has been generated by my own research for the purpose of the degree Masters by Research in Sociology. This work contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree in my name, in any university and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. 6 Chapter One Introduction This thesis explores the accounts of volunteer’s participation amongst a group of volunteers in Yorkshire. The experience of volunteers is an area that deserves investigation, not only because of recent political interest in the field, but also because of the increasing importance of volunteering in today’s society. In an age of austerity and with constant government cutbacks it comes as no surprise that the reliance upon volunteers in the United Kingdom is now more important than ever. Reyes (2014) argues that over recent years volunteers have come to “act as a sticking plaster over the gaping wounds inflicted by government cuts”. This quote by Reyes is extremely poignant to the voluntary sector which has seen the need to step up and care for their communities more than ever. With the increasing role of volunteers it is important to explore how they account for their participation in the volunteering roles they undertake. My interest in the voluntary sector has stemmed from being a volunteer myself for the past three years at a local community advice centre. The time that I have spent at the Centre has given me invaluable insight into the world of voluntary organisations and their appreciation for volunteers, without whom they would not be able to function. I have seen the Centre where I volunteer fear for closure due to lack of funding, yet I have also seen them turn away volunteers due to already being overstaffed. As a result of this I became interested in what influences volunteers and how they account for their voluntary behaviour. Through internet and library searches I found a vast amount of literature relating to the work of volunteers mainly focusing on motivation of volunteers, however, the literature which first came to my attention was that on prosocial behaviour, which can be defined as “voluntary behaviour designed to benefit another” (Hinde and Groebel, 1991, p.54). This literature was 7 based in America and carried out by psychological researchers; it was not until after further investigation that more relevant and recent sociological research emerged. A reoccurring theme within the psychological literature was that of prosocial behaviour and how it is performed in everyday life such as through the “bystander effect” and not specifically with regards to volunteers. Literature by psychologists such as Dovidio et al. (2006) and Simpson and Willer (2008) link volunteering to prosocial behaviour, altruism (helping without reward) and egoism (selfish helping). A concern with the psychological literature however, is that whilst it does address the motivations of volunteers the research is individualistic and does not consider the wider societal implications. In comparison, a sociological approach acknowledges individual motivations but is more interested in the reasoning behind their behaviour and what influences how they choose to behave such as family, religion and employment (Rochester et al, 2012; Ellis Paine et al., 2013). Much of the research undertaken in the United Kingdom has been carried out by organisations linked to the voluntary sector, often known as Third Sector Organisations and these include the National Centre for Voluntary Organisations and the Northern Rock Foundation. One issue with the UK research however, was its tendency to be based on either theoretical or quantitative research which does not produce the in-depth findings that this new current research aims to do through qualitative interpretative research leading to findings in the form of an in depth analysis. It is here where my research into the personal accounts of volunteers will bridge the gap in research into voluntary behaviour in the United Kingdom and will provide more contemporary findings. The research questions for this study were established to help address the limitations of research already undertaken and to help explore volunteers’ accounts of their participation. This led to the following three questions; How do volunteers understand their volunteering? What do volunteers think are the influences on their volunteering and their choice of volunteer organisations? 8 What do volunteers think are the benefits and challenges of being a volunteer? The research identified interesting accounts of volunteer’s participation. By gaining a perspective of the volunteers’ understandings of their volunteering it became apparent that volunteering was not just a hobby, but for many of them it formed an important role in their lives and was likened by some as a form of employment. The social institution of religion emerged as a major influence in many of the volunteer’s motives for volunteering. Whether the volunteer was deeply religious or their religion was used as a form of socialisation, it was understood to play a significant role in these individual’s lives. The benefits that were attributed to volunteering by the participants in the research were constructed on the age of the respondents. Older volunteers linked the benefits of their participation to “keeping fit”, “staying young” and “remaining relevant”, whereas younger volunteers link their benefits to employment, “transferable skills” and “career progression”. The reasons given by the participants in the research for their decision for choosing a specific organisation were more varied and included family, religion and age. This research has been divided into four chapters. The first chapter deals with the available literature on volunteering with some consideration of psychological research but focusing mainly on current sociological literature on volunteering. The section highlights the gaps in the literature and explains how this current research will seek to address these gaps. Following this, the methodology will explain and demonstrate how an empirical qualitative interpretivist approach will be taken to enable already existing research to be developed and expanded. Subsequently, there will be a section on the findings and analysis of the research where interviews will be analysed and used to understand how the participants in this research account for their volunteering behaviour, linking back to current literature and my research questions. Finally, the conclusion will summarise and draw together the findings of this research into volunteers’ accounts of their participations and will provide suggestions for improvements and future research. 9 Chapter Two Literature Review This current piece of research explores the personal accounts of volunteers belonging to volunteer organisations in Yorkshire. Research that has been published on the role of volunteers is extensive and has been carried out by researchers internationally (Low et al., 2007; Musick and Wilson, 2008; Boyce, 2015). This chapter will consider and examine some of the relevant, recent literature concerning volunteerism, participation and the third sector. By reviewing the literature it will enable an understanding of what research has already been carried out whilst also highlighting any issues with the research and identifying gaps in the literature that need addressing. By identifying gaps in the existing literature on volunteering it will enable this current piece of research to develop and expand upon what has already been published.